Remembering Babyn Yar Demands Supporting Ukraine
I stood just a few feet from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Babyn Yar, where we had gathered to commemorate Jews murdered 85 years ago. Israeli and German representatives were among those paying their respects. Around us was Kyiv, a city whose residents are trying to live their lives under the continuing threat of Russian drones and missiles.
I had traveled to Ukraine to participate in the commemoration of one of the Holocaust’s largest mass shootings. But the experience extended well beyond the ceremony. During my stay, the electricity went out several times. The people I met were defending their country while preparing for another winter in which reliable electricity and heat could not be taken for granted.
I returned convinced that honoring the victims of Babyn Yar requires a commitment to people facing aggression today. America and Europe must sustain their support for Ukraine’s independence and help protect its civilians. Holocaust remembrance should deepen our willingness to defend human dignity when doing so carries a cost. That responsibility cannot end when a memorial ceremony concludes.
On Sept. 29 and 30, 1941, Nazi German forces and their auxiliaries murdered 33,771 Jews at Babyn Yar. Men, women and children were taken to a ravine outside Kyiv and shot. The killing continued during the occupation, claiming tens of thousands of additional victims, including Roma, Soviet prisoners of war and psychiatric patients. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum cites a Soviet investigation estimating that some 100,000 people were murdered there.
Those numbers are difficult to comprehend even when standing at the site. Each person had a life beyond the circumstances of their death: a family, relationships, work and hopes for the future. As president of The Blue Card, which supports Holocaust survivors in need, I believe remembrance must preserve that humanity. It must also inform how we respond to the vulnerability of others.
The presence of Ukrainian, Israeli and German representatives gave the commemoration particular significance. People from countries with profoundly different relationships to this history stood together to honor its victims. Their presence affirmed that the obligation to remember extends across borders. The harder question is how that obligation shapes decisions after everyone returns home.
In Kyiv, the consequences of those decisions are immediate. Residents continue working, caring for their families and maintaining a vibrant city while living with the possibility of another attack. The power interruptions I experienced were a small glimpse of conditions they cannot leave behind at the end of a visit. As winter approaches, damage to the energy system threatens the basic security of a warm home.
These concerns are well documented. A United Nations report found that Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure during the previous winter disrupted heating, water supplies, healthcare and schooling. Older people and people with disabilities suffered disproportionately. For anyone whose work involves helping elderly Holocaust survivors live safely and independently, those consequences deserve particular attention.
The Ukrainians I met understood their struggle as extending beyond their own borders. They spoke of defending their country and preventing Russia’s aggression from spreading further into Europe. Their determination impressed me, but admiration from visitors is insufficient. Courage does not restore a damaged power grid or guarantee that a family will be safe through the night.
There are legitimate debates about how best to support Ukraine and bring the war to an end. The Holocaust also has a specific history that must never be reduced to an analogy for every contemporary conflict. We can respect that distinction while recognizing that its lessons demand opposition to aggression and the dehumanization of civilians. Seeking peace must include protecting the people who will have to live with its terms.
I went to Kyiv to honor the dead and returned thinking about our obligations to the living. America and Europe should sustain practical support that helps Ukrainians protect their communities and get through the coming winter. At Babyn Yar, we remembered people whose humanity was denied completely. We honor them by taking the humanity and freedom of people living today seriously enough to act.
